Death threats against Colombian union members have remained appallingly
high since announcement of the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) Labor
Action Plan according to the Escuela Nacional Sindical (ENS), the group recognized in the Plan as an authoritative
source of monitoring data. The data shows that unions and congressional labor
rights defenders in Colombia and the United States were sadly correct in
opposing the Colombia FTA on concerns of continued violence against workers,
while the Obama administration’s promises about the Labor Action Plan were incorrect,
said Public Citizen on the two-year anniversary of the Plan.

Sadly, Colombian unions and human
rights organizations had predicted that the Labor Action Plan would not alter
on-the-ground realities. Among the unionists who have received death threats
since the FTA went into effect is Jhonsson Torres, a sugar cane worker who came
to Washington to plead with members of Congress not to approve the FTA until
and unless labor protections improved. One year ago the general secretary of
Jhonsson’s union, also under death threat, was shot and killed while walking
with his wife.

“Many people were shocked that the
Obama administration would push a trade deal with Colombia, given the record of
widespread deadly violence against unionists and human rights defenders, some
of it perpetrated by the military and most of it occurring with impunity,” said
Lori Wallach, director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch. “Now that the
Obama administration is responsible for passing this agreement, the question is:
what will it do to reverse this horrible trend?”

“The complete flip-flop from the
reform trade agenda President Obama campaigned on in 2008 to the retrograde policies
the administration is negotiating today with Latin American and Asian nations reveals
the deep influence big business has on determining U.S trade policies that affect
wide swaths of non-trade related issues,” said Wallach. “Despite members of
Congress, labor unions and human rights groups in Colombia and the United
States pointing out to the Obama administration the deficiencies in this Plan and
the lunacy of implementing the FTA before real improvement could be measured, the
sad reality is a failed promise to fix the horrifying daily reality of
Colombian workers.”

Comments

It is always disturbing to hear of threats of violence against workers for trying to unionize to protect their rights. Unions can give employees a collective voice and keep management in check, creating more of a balance. Whether it is in the United States or abroad, the rights of employees attempting to organize deserve to be protected.

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About Us

Eyes on Trade is a blog by the staff of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch (GTW) division. GTW aims to promote democracy by challenging corporate globalization, arguing that the current globalization model is neither a random inevitability nor "free trade." Eyes on Trade is a space for interested parties to share information about globalization and trade issues, and in particular for us to share our watchdogging insights with you! GTW director Lori Wallach's initial post explains it all.

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